Idalou free throws Floydada to death

Published 6:00 pm, Saturday, February 20, 2010

LUBBOCK — Which team prevails when the Floydada Lady ’Winds and Idalou Lady ’Cats step on the basketball court apparently depends on the temperature outside and the initials associated with the game.

Floydada and Idalou squared off more than a dozen times last summer during AAU play.

“We played them 13 times and beat ’em every time,” Floydada junior post Whitley Beedy said.

When it comes to UIL competition when the weather outside is a little cooler, though, Idalou has had the upperhand.

The Lady ’Cats beat Floydada, 81-61, during the second week of the season, and while Friday night’s Class 2A area round game at the Rip Griffin Center was much closer, Idalou still prevailed, 62-55.

“They didn’t shoot as many 3s this summer,” Beedy said when trying to explain the reversal in outcomes between the teams.

And Idalou (24-8) probably didn’t shoot as many free throws, either. The Lady ’Cats — who shot 17 more free throws when the teams met in Idalou on Nov. 20 — outscored Floydada 24-10 at the foul line Friday night as the Lady ’Winds (24-8) were whistled for 25 fouls, compared to 16 for Idalou. Three Floydada players fouled out and a fourth — Beedy — was within one foul of going out.

“We just didn’t get the calls,” Floydada coach mark Styles said. “We do foul, but I think the other team does, too.”

Idalou scored 13 of its 15 fourth-quarter points from the foul stripe as Floydada was forced to foul after falling behind in the third quarter.

The Lady ’Winds, after rallying from a five-point second-quarter deficit, led 37-35 midway through the third period. That’s when Idalou — spurred by a 3-pointer from sophomore Lacey Conklin and a 3-point play by Brittany Deleon — went on a 14-2 run to take a comfortable 49-39 lead early in the fourth quarter.

Floydada never got closer than seven points after that.

“We went on a little run, and once we were able to get up we were able to pull them out of their zone (defense),” Idalou coach Jack Cheek said. “I think that took them out of their comfort level a little bit.”

Besides being called for multiple fouls during Idalou’s game-changing run, Floydada began being careless with the ball, turning it over eight times in the third period alone.

Then, in a span of 45 seconds early in the fourth quarter, Floydada starting guards Blanca Suarez and Megan Aleman fouled out. Lexie Terrell joined them on the bench late in the game when Floydada cut a 12-point deficit to the final seven-point margin.